I 41 

:95 
>py l 



A DISCOURSE 



RATIONAL EDUCATION; 



OE, 



Hill HII 



AS DELIVEREBf'BY 

LeGRAND b l cushman, 



IN 



MANY OF THE PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND CITIES 
THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. 



UTICA, K Y. 



PUBLISHED BY J. WESLEY SEGAR, NO. 176 GENESEE STREET. 
1864. 



1> 







h® Qnad B. Etsta&i; 

VOCALIST AND LECTURER. 



A DISCOURSE 

ON 

RATIONAL EDUCATION 



OK, 



mini in hi tut 



AS DELIVEKED BY 



LeGUAND b. cushman 



EN 



MANY OF THE PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND CITIES 
THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. 



UTICA, K Y. : 

PUBLISHED BY J. WESLEY SEGAR, NO. 176 GENESEE STREET. 
1864. 






H 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year of our Lord 1SG4. by 

LE GRAND B. CUSHMAN, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Northern District of New York. 



2. £ $ * b 



PREFACE. 



Iii presenting this pamphlet to the public, I do so 
with the full assurance that it should he read by all 
lovers of Education and Progress. Education, in the 
past, has been improperly understood by those who 
haye acted in that important cajxtcity of Parent 
and Teacher. Man is to a great extent a creature of 
circumstances, as his character is formed by his sur- 
roundings. Everything that makes an impression up- 
on his mind, either tends to educate him in the Paths 
of Truth, or to direct his mind in the slothful cJiannels 
of Vice and Misery. Everything that comes in con- 
tact with our vision, is educational in its effects ; hence, 
it has been truly said, that "he that runs may read," 
and gather knowledge, but not always wisdom. 

The first lessons which we receive, are while the 
soul-germ of our being is slumbering in the embryo of 
Fetal development. Every mother occupies the position 
of Teacher; and with her depends, to a great extent, 
the success and happiness of the Intellectual and Moral 
Power 8 of the rising generation We are wisely 



reminded by the Apostle Paul, of the great and all- 
important necessity of using onr reason, when he says, 
" prove all things, and holdfast that which is good." 
Hence the reader will observe, as he carefully peruses 
this little work, the truthfulness of the great variety of 
things and conditions that go to make up nature's 
library, from which man gathers his education. 

This little work is Dedicated to all who act in the 
important capacity of Parent or Teacher, and is kindly 
presented to them for their careful and oeneficent con- 
sideration. 

LeGKAND b. cushmak 

New York, April, 1864. 



EDUCATION. 



Man should be educated. Not because he may not 
do without an education : not because he may not go 
through the world, after a manner, without it : not be- 
cause he may not thrive — even grow fat, from an abun- 
dance of the good things of this life: not because lie 
may not acquire property, and grow into respectability, 
through the medium of dollars and cents — for how many 
thousands do we meet in all the walks of life, who are 
Rich in Purse, but Poor in Mind ! How many who 
ride in fine coaches, live in palaces, dress in gew-gaws, 
and live on the costliest viands, who know not what 
the air is made of ! How many with all the conven- 
iences requisite to make life happy, exhibit a pitiable 
ignorance of those things with which all should be 
familiar ! Then the cultivation of the whole human 
intellect is not absolutely necessary to the maintenance 
of the body, for God has furnished us with an instinct, 
that will see to it that the body does not suffer. ISTot 
more reliable is that intuitive knowledge, that sends 
the season birds to the milder south each returning 
autumn than is that same knowledge in man. Observe 
the Indian ; how carefully he provides in the spring his 
patch of corn for summer, and how each autumn finds 
him laying by his stock of skins and furs for clothing 
and a plentiful supply of venison and bear meat for 



6 

tlie winter. Hisjvvants are few, but as his wants are, 
so in a simple ratio are his preparations. And so it is 
with all races of men. Their actual or supposed 
necessities are provided for naturally. The Indian as 
has been observed, wants but little : therefore are his 
provisions for the future very limited. He needs no 
property, therefore he acquires none. He expects his 
offspring to pursue the same mode of life, and conse- 
quently they need nothing at his hands. 

Go where civilization has raised man from the savage 
state : where he has eschewed nature's spontaneous pro- 
ductions, or rather considers them insufficient to supply 
his wants : where he has swept away the forests, 
and spread there his ample fields, built towns and cities, 
and sent away his ships to bring him luxuries of otheer 
lands, — his wants are much increased : he wants more 
himself, and when death removes him, he desires to 
leave his sons and daughters a patrimony. Thus are 
his desires and labors naturally increased. And this is 
as true of the uncultivated, as of the cultivated mind. 
Yes, far truer is it for the uncultivated mind, and 
what I mean by the uncultivated mind, is one that has 
not been harmoniously cultivated, or one which has 
receiv T ed all its culture in one direction — has but the 
one desire, the one mastering love, the one moving 
passion : to grow rich, and to give all his heirs a hand- 
some estate when he needs it no longer. 

Hence in many instances the uneducated man far 
outstrips his better informed neighbor. Then it is not 
because man has needs, physical wants which must be 
supplied, that he should be educated — but because he 



is a man. Man ! what is he ? An immortal creature, 
an animal divine. To all the animals was given in- 
stinct, a kind of physical intellect : but to man, the 
crowning work, the wonder of the universe, God gave 
an immortal soul, an undying mind, an essence of 
himself, a spirit that should live as long as time should 
last : and. from this wondrous soul he withheld none of 
his own attributes. It was the breath of God, the in- 
breathing of His Spirit, that caused man to be a living 
sonl. 

He was an animal endowed with God's own powers, 
and only modified by the temple, the clay tenement in 
which they dwelt. And in answer to this power from 
his maker, in answer to the wisdom and the omnip- 
otence of his nature, he was to have dominion over the 
earth and all that in it dwelt. He has had dominion, 
and mark the effect of his ruling. The wilderness 
earth has been planted with flowers. The pathless 
ocean, that lashed unknown shores, has been rendered 
the great highway of the world, with all its rocks and 
reefs, its bars and currents, mapped with daguerreian 
precision. 

The rivers that for long centuries tumbled from their 
homes, in the mountains, through their wood girt 
channels to the sea, with nought to mark their passage 
but the wild animal from his brush wood lair, nought 
to stay their currents throughout all their wild career, 
are now spanned by bridges and covered with the pro- 
duct of human toil. Mountains and hills have been 
levelled or tunneled, as suited man's fancy best : the 
earth has been hooped with railroads, until every man's 



8 

door is a market, and soon with the lightning for his news 
car, his house will always be in speaking distance though 
the whole diameter of the earth should intervene. 

Wherever a man may be, he can say in his power, 
"let me know Ik >w the loved ones at home get on," 
and in a moment he -shall know. Then the earth was 
a great maze, a wilderness of woods and waters, upos 
which the sun and moon looked clown in vain. 

Through out the day the sun sent down his beams, 
but to be reflected from the leafy coat, without ever 
touching the body of the earth : and at night, the moon 
looked down but to see her own sad face reflected from 
the waters. Now, they both look down on a grain 
clad world, on a vast field that catches up their beams of 
warmth and light, and deals them out to make a thous- 
and million h&tai&rejoice. And this, with the blessing 
of God, man has done. Surely ir seems a modified 
omnipotence has been at work. Man could not make 
a world, but (tod gave him one for his home, with the 
power to make it almost a pa/radise. This is man?s 
omnipotence, directed by his wisdom, and yet more: 
these wondrous powers of man are capable of a con- 
Btanl and unending increase. These faculties are sus- 
ceptible of an expansion and progression, to which 
there arc neither ends nor bounds. As the stone 
dropped in mid ocean is said to set waves in motion 
thai shall roll on and on till they lash the distant shores, 
and then recoil upon themselves to set other waves 
agoing which shall beat against the opposite shore, and 
thus on forever: so in the great infinitude of space 
between man* and his Maker, and in the unending 



9 

period allotted him to exist, each thought, each emo- 
tion, shall but set in motion other thoughts and other 
emotions, that shall go on increasing and deepening 
forever. Here then we arrive at the reason why 
man should be educated. 

And while I state that this is the reason that he 
should be educated, let me not be understood to say 
that because many men gain fortunes who are ignorant, 
and because all men might live without an education, 
that therefore it is unnecessary to man's physical com- 
fort. For let it be remembered that the ignorant man in 
civilized society, owes his superiority over the untaught 
savage, not to any good work of his, but to his having 
been born among enlightened people. He is a drone 
who reaps advantages from the labors and - researches 
of others, while he adds nothing at all to the public 
stock. And very soon were the influences of education 
to cease, should we see a world retracing its steps from 
a civilized to a savage state. 

As a thousand years ago our ancestors lived on war 
and acorns, so in a thousand years to come our posterity 
would lead a similar life. An educated mind, then, 
not only seeks out knowledge, but it preserves* it. 
Hence, upon this alone depends the physical well being 
of the world. Again, man should not only be educated, 
but he should be educated aright. For taking the 
word in its most extended sense, allowing it to compre- 
hend all the training that we receive from our own 
observation, and from the instruction which we receive 
from others, not only as instructors, but as associ- 
ates, man will be educated — either properly or im- 



10 

properly. His mind was calculated in its formation 
for expansion : every faculty craves it, and lience seeks 
for it. The human mind was so constituted that it can 
never be still. " Peace, be still," was never written 
upon it : but rather onward, and still onward ! 

Just as naturally as the dew-fed streamlet, that in 
its weakness turns aside for the modest violet, receives 
from all quarters additions to its waters, until it be- 
comes the mighty river, bearing to the ocean on its 
sweeping current the commerce of half a world ; so 
the mind, feeble -in its beginnings, so very frail that it 
cannot grasp a thought, increases with every addition, 
and gains new strength every hour of its existence. 
This it does naturally,' constitutionally. Then we say 
tli at the mind will be educated, for it is God's decree 
stamped upon it in its creation ; and that this education 
will either be rigid or wrong. And further, we say 
that this education consists in every word uttered from 
birtii till death. People too often imagine that edu- 
cation is gained in schools entirety; whereas it is 
frequently the case, itnat the young man or the young- 
lady who attends school tp finish an education, has 
already finished it in the street, in the groggery, in 
the ball-room, or at the card party, so effectually, that 
the love for books, for solid instruction and profitable 
knowledge is entirely gone. The fond parents are grieved, 
friends and relations disappointed, and everybody won- 
ders why there was no progress made. A thousand 
excuses are framed to palliate the apparent carelessness 
or imbecility. The ability of the teacher, or his assi- 
duity, is questioned; or, in all probability, the unhappy 



11 

recipient of all these well meant, but ill-timed endeav- 
ors, is set down as thick-headed, as being born for a 
dolt, and that therefore there can be no possible use in 
endeavoring to thwart the designs of nature. 

They never once consider that the mind has been 
pre-occupied ; that the amusements, the romances of life, 
have estranged it to all serious thought of the real, the 
tangible. That mind had been educated be-fore, and 
educated, too, after the most fascinating style". ~No cares 
pressed upon it. -It saw no duties to perforin ; it felt 
no responsibilities. Eeal, earnest, thoughtful action, 
had never been placed before it for consideration. The 
pulses thrilled and the heart beat for joy. Wild, 
dreamy thoughts, made a vast castle of the future, in 
which there was no sorrow, no suffering to endure, no 
calamities to withstand, no life-work to do — all was 
one brilliant round of the gayest delight, to which no 
end would succeed. The whole future was a bright 
day, which would never end in night. Let me repeat, 
then, that the mind was already educated — ruinously, 
it is true, but the none the less surely, ISFdt strange is 
it, that such a mind should baffle all the efforts of pa- 
rents and instructors, for to succeed, it must be led 
backward. The wdiole course of life must be changed. 
Old loves and fancies and ideals must be chased away, 
and replaced with those which appear far less invitingly 
and lovely. The entire path of life that has led through 
pleasant vales and flow T er-clad dells, shaded by ever- 
green trees, among whose boughs bright w T inged birds 
have sung to lure the unwary and enamored youth 
along, must be retraced. A new life must be begun — a 



12 

new road entered upon that winds over crags and 
dark ravines, and that leads up, and up the hill of sci- 
ence, Avhose top no eye has seen. No flowers are there, 
no bird songs, no shaded glens — all is labor, dull, unin- 
viting toil. No wonder, then, that such a mind resists 
all attempts to mould it anew. It has grown strong 
in the direction in which it was first bent; habit has 
become nature, or in a word, the mind has been edu- 
cated. So it is with every youth. Progress in proper 
education, will always depend upon the antecedents, 
upon the previous training. That parent, for instance, 
who trains his children to believe that labor is degrad- 
ing, and that the lowly were born to toil, to be the 
u hewers of wood and the drawers of water," is most 
certainly educating them to despise toil of all kinds, 
and need never expect them to fulfill his anticipations 
of seeing them grow up useful men and women, an 
honor to him and ornaments to society. They must 
be taught that life is a reality, which must be grappled 
with earnestly : and that to do anything, or be any- 
thing in the world, rccpiires the utmost patience and 
unceasing exertion ; recpiircs that they shall ever 

Be up and doing, 

With a life for any fate ; 
" Still achieving, still pursuing," 
" Learn to labor and to wait." 
Let us imagine another example of improper educa- 
tion. Suppose a child, a little boy,for instance, while 
he is yet as pure as I lie angels, before his mind has 
become sufficiently strong to distinguish right from 
wrong; suppose that almost as soon as his unskilled 
tongue can stammer out the simplest words, his mis- 



13 

guided father should teach him to swear, and should 
smile with delight as the most horrid language came 
from his pure lips — think you, my friends, that child 
with such daily training, would become a lovely and a 
teachable boy % We all know that such could not 
be the case, for this early training, these first impres- 
sions, would grow with his growth, would in feet be a 
part of his being, inseparable and uneffaceable. ~No 
after training, however skillful, could remove those 
deep way marks from his being. This may be sup- 
posed an improbable case, and we all hope that no 
parent, would so far forget his duties and his responsi- 
bilities as a parent, as to teach his child to profane the 
name of God. 

But are there not opportunities oifered, like in kind, 
and almost as eifective in their suicidal results, as 
though the parent was himself the teacher ? While 
our youth have no home amusements to keep them off 
the streets at night ; while the vicious and profane, 
that meet to spend their evenings together, that they 
may not be left to muse alone upon their wickedness, 
for I hold that no immoral or profane person is good 
company for himself, from the simple fact that wicked- 
ness loves company better than meditation ; while these 
arethe companions of the young, Ave need have no doubt 
that their education is progressing rapidly. And what 
an education, from what tutors ! My friends I tremble 
when I reflect how many bright boys, how many 
gifted minds, that might become stars of the first 
magnitude in their day, that might serve the world 
acceptably and honorably, are now being educated for 

B 



14 

the Jail 3 the State Prison, and the Gallows. Educated 
too as I have said, by meeting with the vicions and 
profane, hearing them talk of their last night's revels, 
of their drunken frolicks, and of their midnight orgies. 
The boy listens at first with wonder, that any one 
can be so lost to all sense of Virtue and right. But by 
degrees he catches the spirit, he becomes used to hard 
words, and hardened deeds, he goes forth into the 
company of his own youthful associates to recite to 
them the deeds done and the language used. Soon, 
oh ! how soon, his sensibility has gone ! How soon he 
forgets his mother's oft repeated admonition : never go 
into bad company, never use bad language. How 
soon the tongue that uttered but the purest words, 
and the lips through which no poisoned speech had 
ever passed are both polluted. How soon the young 
mind that has been taught to look up to God as the 
great author of all things, and to never mention his 
name but in fearful accents, perhaps but in the little 
prayer that he has pronounced before he could think 
of falling into the wooing arms of sleep — how soon, 
I say, lie uses that name with more familiarity, than 
he does that of his own father. 

I say with more familiarity, for where is the boy, 
aye where is the man, that would on all occasions, 
when in anger or in mirth, use his father's name lightly 
in the presence of the father? ISTo one I presume to 
say, would do it. Allow me to say here that I advert 
to swearing in this system of improper education, par- 
ticularly, because I believe it to be the promoter, the 
foster father of a multitude of sins. As long as you 



15 

can keep a boy's language pure, that long is he safe, for 
from the " fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh." 
This then is improper education. And how strong 
the hold it has upon its learners ! How it clings to its 
unfortunate victim, even after he would break away 
from its loathsome embrace. Allow me then, in this 
connection, to say to any and every one present, who 
may be in the habit of using profane language, as I 
would say to every one so addicted ; quit it at once. 
Don't say to yourself, yet a little longer, and then when 
age has caused me to leave off the frivolities of youth, 
then I will cease to swear. 

Don't delay friends — I would say if I could, to every 
swearer in the world. Not a word do we utter but 
that will affect our minds throughout our whole lives. 
Every thought, and word, and deed, leaves a mark which 
shall never be effaced. Man may be in the habit of 
swearing and then quit, but that mind will never be 
so pure, so free from stain, as though no bad word had 
ever stained it. It will always be a source of regret to 
any one to think as life's shadow begins to lengthen 
towards the evening of his days, that he has ever taken 
the name of God in vain. And how much more 
pleasant will our last days on earth be, with what 
satisfaction shall we look back on our past lives, if they 
have been wisely spent, if no bad habits have been 
practiced, and if our whole lives have been as pure as 
we shall then wish they had been. My friends, I may 
be an Enthusiast on this point, or perhaps a Monomo- 
niac, but I can but believe that when you and I shall 
stand in the presence of God in that bright land to 



16 

which we all are tending, we shall see blazoned before 
our faces in unmistakable characters, the perfect pic- 
ture of our whole lives. ISTot a word, not an act, not 
a thought or emotion will be lost. 

Oh ! how many of us will need no sentence, but self- 
condemned, will turn away from the presence of the 
good and pure, to seek our homes among those who 
like ourselves did despite to the promptings of that 
better nature that our Father has given us to guide us 
in the right. Such my friends, will be the home, and 
the fate of many, very many who are being educated 
to order in our doggeries, our bar rooms, and our 
drinking and gambling saloons throughout the whole 
land. Would that some guardian spirit would but whis- 
per in every ear, you are on the road that leads to death, 
and that that whisper should continue to" ring there 
louder and louder, until every one would turn from his 
evil ways — turn and be a man . Many other instances of 
false education might be adduced if more illustration 
were necessary to prove its ruinous effects. And among 
these might be enumerated gambling, the drinking of 
ardent spirits, a want of deference to age, and general 
impurity of thought and language. That the first two 
are the results of improper training, the bitter fruit 
of bad example, thousands of the best and brightest 
intellects in this fair land would from the depths of 
lowness, and degradation to which they have been 
carried, gladly testify. Suffer me one moment here ; I 
had thought not to advert to this at all. But I know 
of no moie woful, and fearful and soul sickening exam- 
ple of bad training than is the drunkard. If you 



17 

would know as nearly as it is in hnman power to know 
how great would be the fall of an angel, look at the 
drunkard. Look at the once proud, and gifted man, 
he who was the admired and loved of all ; the witching 
taste for strong drink, planted in youth, has grown and 
strengthened till now it is master; mark him, as he 
totters with aimless step, and soulless eye to his lowly 
hut, too often, to wreak his maddened, poisoned spirit, 
on her who was once the bride of his heart, and the 
glory of his home. 

Oh ! how low has a man fallen, when he becomes a 
drunkard ! May we, my friends, be preserved from 
ever becoming drunkards, or causing our neighbors to 
be so. And again, in these days of Native American- 
ism, Young America, I have thought, felt the import- 
ance of its position rather too keenly. Not that I 
would have a young person underrate himself or his 
position ; and especially, in this country, where, in a 
few years, the youth of to-day are to assume the places, 
and take upon them the burdens of their fathers, it is 
highly necessary that they should feel the importance 
of the trust that must soon be committed to their 
charge, and prepare themselves to receive it, and to 
transmit it to the next generation, the same noble her- 
itage of free men and free institutions that it now is. 
They should feel the weight of the responsibility, and 
nerve themselves to bear it as becomes the sons of noble 
sires. But this need not, should not, beget a self-im- 
portance that would -render its possessor haughty, or 
prevent him from rendering to age and worth that rev- 
erence that is ever their due. In fact, I know of no 

B* 



18 

better criterion by which the good taste and judgment 
of a young person may be known, than by his habit of 
yielding a proper deference to the opinions and experi- 
ence of age. Why, I believe, my young friends, that 
you and I should feel such a deference for age, that we 
would never speak or act unworthily in the presence 
of gray hairs. That we should feel restrained from any 
levity which we would suppose would be unpleasant to 
one whose youth has long since passed — feel that we 
are in the presence of one who has tried the earth, who 
knows it from experience, who has had his successes 
and reverses in life, who knows how the bitter min- 
gles with the sweet, how joy and sadness walk together 
through life ; and more than all, how all the wild fancies 
and expectations of the young are doomed to vanish 
before the stern realities of life. 

We should feel that we are in the presence of a fund 
of experience, from which we might draw lessons of 
profit. And we should also realize that the venerable 
being — venerable for age alone, if nothing else — will 
^oon be done with time here ; that the past, with all its 
associations, is fast receding, and that he looks forward 
to the time which shall soon see his spirit, freed from 
the earth, taking its flight to the world where death 
comes not, and the spirit grows not old. I say that in 
the presence of such persons we should not feel famil- 
iar, nor talk as to our comrades. 

And especially should we have a care that, in speak- 
ing of them, or to them, we do not descend so far, nor 
show ourselves so ill bred as to call them by such names 
as Smithy Old Smith, Bill Smith, or Old Bill Smith ; 



19 

-or, when meeting them, to saint e them with " Why, 
how are yon Smith? How have yon been? How 
does the world nse yon ?" This does not sound any 
too well, when addressed to an equal in age ; and in all 
good humor allow me to say, for myself, and for us all 
— all that do so— that it savors, very much, of what polite 
people would call impudence, and is certainly the result 
of wrong training. Another, and the last result of an 
improper education, or development of the mind, to 
which I wish at this time to refer, is a general deficien- 
cy in true native modesty, or what would probably be 
better denominated purity- -real, substantial virtue. 
This arises, without doubt, in a great measure, from 
the trashy, flimsy chaff — light, yellow-covered litera- 
ture that is constantly pouring through the press from 
the minds of men that love money better than virtue, 
and who would, for their own sakes, gladly exchange 
all the solid reading in the land, for the light effusions 
of their own empty brains. Now, if the minds of the 
young be fed on this alone, or to the exclusion of more 
solid material, they must become corrupted. For as is 
our literature, so will be our morals. First, we read ; 
then we ponder ; then we talk ; and, however low may 
have been the theme, however vile and dark the thought, 
our own minds have followed him through the foul 
quagmire, and we may not come thence without 
being stained. 

"If a man cannot touch pitch and not be de- 
filed," how much less can he subject his mind to the 
contact of that which is low and debasing, without 
having it marred and soiled. And oh, how impure from 



20 

this combined with other causes, do we see men become ? 
So impure, that obscenity seems their native element ; 
so impure, that we wonder to hear a good thing from 
their lips. Now, this impurity of language is but the 
wellings forth of an impure soul ; for " from the full- 
ness of the heart the mouth speaketh." 

And it has been very truly said that " If all men had 
windows in their hearts, there would be a great de- 
mand for shutters." Now I w^ould not have it under- 
stood that man can attain to the purity of angels, nor 
that he may preserve himself perfectly free from all 
stain upon his mind and heart ; but I do think that 
our Father, " whodeeth all things well," has not given 
us a mental constitution that must, of necessity, be very 
impure, but that he has bestowed upon every human 
being that lives, or has lived, a soul that might be edu- 
cated for heaven — that might be fitted for the company 
of angels, and just men made perfect. Then I would 
say, although we may not have windows in our hearts, 
yet, no thought should ever be harbored there, that we 
would be ashamed to utter. No word should we ever 
speak, that we would not be perfectly willing that all 
the world should hear. And every word that .anybody 
utters that he would not be willing should come to the 
ears of his mother, his sister, or his nearest friend, is 
the consequence of improper influences planted and 
nurtured in the soul. For a proper education would 
have inspired him with the idea that God knows all 
our inmost thoughts, and that for every thought, word 
and deed, he will call us to account in the last day. 
That, then, however much we may have deceived oth- 



21 

ers by appearances, however much we may have wished 
to have the reputation of being pure in thought and 
virtuous in action, our whole lives will be pictured with 
a fearful accuracy. Outstanding in living letters of 
light, will be every unholy desire, every unrighteous 
motive, every unchristian act. 

Then, my friends, it seems to me, we shall all wish 
there had been windows to our souls, that the apparent 
secresy might not have led us to indulge in that which 
will cover us with shame, and make us sink, abashed 
and confounded, from the presence of the blessed, pure 
in spirit. And it impresses itself deeply upon my 
judgment, that boys, and girls, should be so trained, so 
nurtured in purity, so carefully guarded against the use 
of all low, vulgar and debasing language, that they 
would be above it — far too noble-soulecl and high-mind- 
ed to indulge in thought and language so far beneath 
all that is good and lovely. Then, I think, it has been 
shown that man must, and will be educated ; that his 
mind is so constituted that it cannot remain stationary ; 
that it must advance in some direction, and that direc- 
tion will be either good or bad, according to the train- 
ing ; and that, therefore, he should be educated aright. 
The question very naturally arises here, " How shall 
this be done?" This is indeed a momentous query, 
and one that addresses itself to the intelligence of every 
parent, and of every teacher, who at all understands 
the responsibilities that rest upon him. How shall I 
educate the mind that has been committed to my care ? 
Especially is this true of parents. Immortal minds are 
committed to their charge. Every day, from the cradle 



to manhood and womanhood, are those minds receiving 
impressions which no after-culture — which eternal time 
itself shall not remove. Every day they are receiving 
impressions which shall in themselves, be the causes 
of influences that shall affect the mind throughout its 
whole existence. Every look, every tone, every word 
of the mother, *s painted upon the young heart of the 
child in colors that will never grow dim. Then how 
passing all the importance that language can depict is 
it, that all these engravings on the soul should be cut 
at the right time, and in the proper manner ; that all 
the colorings and shades should be applied skillfully, 
so that all the paintings and carvings there shall so 
blend together as to form the beautiful mind ideal 
which had been previously conceived. 

In this connection it may be said too, that this ideal 
is necessary. No. beautiful mind statue can ever be 
erected without it. Could our own Powers — the 
prince of modern sculptors — have ever traced in stone 
the form, the features, the expression of Webster, if he 
had not studied those features, if he had uot made them 
his own ? No. Powers carried with him to Italy, en- 
graven on his mind, the same picture that came back 
carved in marble. The stone was but the petrified 
ideal of the artist. So in the parent's mind, should be 
formed the ideal of the mind he would impress upon 
his offspring. I need not say that this ideal should 
contain in its structure all the virtues, all the goodly 
traits that may belong to poor, mortal man. For every 
parent knows how he would have his child. He knows 
he would love more than all things else, that that girl, 



23 

or that boy, should grow up into the intelligent, the 
respectable, the lovely, and the loved woman or man. 
He feels that this would be a fortune indeed, and that 
he could say at life's close, that he had not lived in vain ; 
that he had given to the world men and women, in the 
true sense of those terms. Then we say that every in- 
telligent parent has this image of what he wouldhave 
his offspring be. And immediately the question comes 
home to all — Why is it that so many children disgrace 
their paternity % Why is it that we do not have more 
sterling men and women in society % 

Simply because this ideal is not carried out. The 
plan is mapped out, but never filled. The parent plans, 
but through inattention, and want of a proper appre- 
ciation of the duties devolving upon him, and the 
multiplicity of cares that perplex and annoy him, he 
fails to follow out that plan. To-day, from disinclina- 
tion or a want of time, he postpones an important les- 
son, or a merited reproof, until to-morrow, and to-mor- 
row finds him no less engaged ; and thus the lesson is 
lost ; the reproof, or, it may be, a much needed encour- 
agement, is not given, and that young mind will be the 
loser forever. O, if parents would only take time to 
do their duty as fathers and mothers, how many loved 
hearts might be preserved ; how many tears shed over 
the rashness, the waywardness of youth, might never 
fall ; how many agonizing pangs of heart and soul over 
the bright boy ruined, the lovely girl fallen, might 
never be felt. 

My friends, we should take time to do our duty. 
We should take time to educate carefully, fearfully, 



24 

those offshoots from the divine mind, that are entrusted 
to us. If we do not, how. little shall we do in this life*, 
how little will the world be profited by our having lived 
in it ; how little of good shall we have to console us 
when we cast the last longing look over life and its 
acts. 

" But how shall they be taught ? " perhaps some 
might query. I answer, teach them by your own lives. 
If it is true that actions speak louder than words, 
generally, how very true it is with regard to the young. 
Would you teach your boy to love truth and never 
evade it, love it yourself. Show him in every possible 
manner, that you love it clearly, that you would sacrifice 
your life sooner than the truth. Would you teach him 
to be pure in thought and word, be so yourself, and 
never allow yourself to say that which you would not 
encourage in him. ^Would you teach him to be cour- 
teous to all, be yourself a model of politeness, not only 
to the stranger but to him, and to all within the home 
circle. 

Would you teach him nobility of soul, and kindness 
of heart, show him by your every day actions that you 
are noble, above anything that is low and mean, and 
that your heart beats kindly, that you love to do a kind 
deed for its own sake. Would you teach him to obey 
and respect yon, respect yourself. Issue no orders but 
what should be obeyed, then have them obeyed. 
Would you have him love home better than the street 
and the doggery, make it pleasanter. When business 
calls you not away, show him that you love your home 
more than any place else, make it agreeable, and 



25 

instructive, by your own conversation. Would you 
give him a literary cast of mind, patronize the book 
store occasionally. Purchase a book that you know is 
readable, and present it to him ; when he has read it, 
prevail on him to oblige you with its contents. In a 
word, if you would have your children grow up men 
and women, be so yourself in all things to all men. 
Show them that you are competent to be their instruct- 
ors in mind and heart ; make them your confidants and 
companions, and you will reap a reward far more wor- 
thy than crowns of gold ; you will feel that you have 
served the world more acceptably and worthily than 
you could have done had you filled the highest posi- 
tions in state. Why, my friends, I'd rather have the 
credit of educating one man or woman who should be 
known for his or her good deeds, who should cause the 
widow's heart to leap for joy, and" should receive the 
blessings, the real heart meed of the poor and the op- 
pressed ones of the earth — than to be the King of all the 
Russians. Then let me say to parents, don't be dis- 
couraged ; try on, and try all the time ; never despair, 
never give up — determine that no pains shall be spared, 
and your children, and children's children, will rise up 
and call you blessed. 

Again I say, don't give up. It may be that he has 
a worse disposition, and possibly, he may have a bad 
organization ; frequently by far the greater part "of 
these defects are chargeable to you ; and if it should 
not be your fault, it is at least your misfortune, and 
you must make the best of it. It iriay be that you 
cannot make an eminent man of him ; you may not 
c 



26 

be able to raise him to the common level; but, as a 
pare] it, you are bound to do the best you can. And 
lastly, after the parent has initiated his children into 
the first degrees of the temple of science ; after he has 
given them that bent of mind morally that he desires 
they should have ; after he has taught them to observe 
and to think for themselves — the teacher may be called 
in as his aid. But this should not absolve him. The 
same deep interest should be felt — the same watchful 
care should be exercised. Kot a day should pass with- 
out interrogating him as to his progress ; not an even- 
ing should pass without, as far as would be at all practi- 
cable, a review (partial, at least,) of the lessons conned 
during the day. 

This course, in, the first place, would give no oppor- 
tunity for the formation of idle and vicious habits ; 
next, it would break up all truancy in the most effect- 
ual manner, and ensure lastly the greatest possible 
benefit from the clay's teaching, thus giving to the 
teacher the most effectual aid. And again, not a week 
should pass without his visiting him in the school. 
This would not only encourage him to double and re- 
double his exertions, but it would assist the teacher. 
Oh, how much it would assist him to have the weekly 
visit of every parent, to confer with him, to advise, and 
to aid him. lie would feel that his labors were appre- 
ciated, and that he had the assistance of the parent, 
instead of (as is too often the case,) the opposition and 
reprobation. Last of all, but not the least important, 
ho should look to the character of the teacher to whom 
he entrusts the education of his children. As careful 



27 

as is his own deportment, and his own teaching, so 
careful should he know that of the teacher to be. 
He should not only feel the utmost confidence in the 
probity, integrity, and morality of that teacher, but he 
should know for himself that he is worthy of the high 
trust reposed in him. He should know that he is fit 
to be the guide of his child ; fit to make impressions 
there to last forever; fit to give the yielding mind that 
bent which shall cling to it through time ; fit to mould 
an immortality ; fit to give that direction, and that 
gotfdly training to the soul, that his child shall worthily 
tulfill all the duties of the noblest of Goo's work here, 
and when done with time, fit for the company of the 
blest above, where Christ, the Lord, shall be our 
teacher. 

in conclusion, friends, if we have planted one germ 
that shall spring up in usefulness to those before us, we 
shall be blessed indeed. If we have done the mission 
set before us to-day, to one human soul, we are amply 
repaid. It is all we ask from the hand of our Father, 
that we may plant one seed that will bring up a golden 
harvest of love unto Him, and that we all may be 
made to feel, whatever our condition of suffering or 
joy, that we are in His hands, and He " doeth all things 
well ;" if He bids us suffer that we may be strong, let 
our souls respond, " Thy will be ixmE." 




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